1. Auditory Impairment
Dr. Jacqui Cyrus
Instructional Technology
School of Education

2. Survey/Quiz
Please take this short quiz at the beginning
of the presentation and again at the end.
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/114297/ed-443-auditory-impairment

3. Objectives
Students will:
– Explain definitions
– Know the historical contexts
– List and explain the major causes of hearing loss
– Discuss the concept of Deaf culture
– List the major assistive technologies specifically
designed for people with hearing impairments
– Highlight some support groups or organizations
– Cite some online resources

4. Definitions
Hearing impaired
– Someone who is hard of hearing or who has
poor hearing
– Most would prefer to be called Deaf, Hard of
Hearing or deaf when the need arises to refer
to their hearing status, but not as a primary
way to identify them as people (where/when
their hearing status is not significant).

5. Definitions – cont’d
• deaf
– In this uncapitalized form, the word quot;deafquot;
simply means unable to hear.
• Deaf
– Some deaf people also consider themselves
quot;Deafquot; with a capital quot;Dquot;, which does imply a
lot about their language and culture.

6. Deaf and deaf
• Deaf
– Many Deaf people (note the capital quot;Dquot;) may
prefer to be called Deaf instead of deaf, and are
quite happy being Deaf and use sign language as
a primary language
• deaf
– Some deaf people, who were quot;born deafquot; have
rejected Deaf Culture and done everything
possible to survive in a quot;hearing worldquot; using
‘speech reading’ or other non-signing
communication.

7. Historical Contexts
• Pedro Ponce de Leon (1520-1584): first
teacher (Spanish monk) to teachdeaf
students to read, write and speak
• Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet studied in
England and France; started first special
school for the deaf in the U.S.

8. Historical Contexts – cont’d
• Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc (deaf and
well-known French educator of the deaf)
started the first American school for deaf
students in Hartford, CN.

9. IDEA Definition
• Deafness:
– Hearing impairment that is so severe that the
child is impaired in processing linguistic
information through hearing, with or without
amplification, that adversely affects a child’s
educational performance.
• Hard of Hearing:
– Impairment in hearing, whether permanent or
fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s
educational performance but that is not included
under the definition of deafness.

10. Types of Hearing Loss
• Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound
is not conducted properly through the outer
ear, middle ear, or both. It is generally a mild
to moderate impairment, because sound can
still be detected by the inner ear. More severe
impairments can occur, particularly in
Otosclerosis. Generally, with pure conductive
hearing loss, the quality of hearing (speech
discrimination) is good, as long as the sound
is amplified loud enough to be easily heard.

11. Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss has a variety of
causes:
– Ear canal obstruction
– Middle ear abnormalities:
– Tympanic membrane
– Ossicles

12. Inner Ear Hearing Loss
Inner ear abnormalities:
– Superior canal dehiscence syndrome
Other:
– Otosclerosis: hardening of the stapes

13. Sensorineural Hearing Loss
A sensorineural hearing loss is due to
insensitivity of the inner ear, the cochlea,
or to impairment of function in the auditory
nervous system. It can be mild, moderate,
severe, or profound, to the point of total
deafness.

14. Environmental Causes
Long-term exposure to environmental noise
Populations of people living near airports or
freeways are exposed to levels of noise
typically in the 65 to 75 dB(A) range. If
lifestyles include significant outdoor or open
window conditions, these exposures over time
can degrade hearing.

15. Genetic Hearing Loss
• Hearing loss can be inherited. Both dominant
genes and recessive genes exist which can
cause mild to profound impairment. If a family
has a dominant gene for deafness it will
persist across generations because it will
manifest itself in the offspring even if it is
inherited from only one parent. If a family had
genetic hearing impairment caused by a
recessive gene it will not always be apparent
as it will have to be passed onto offspring
from both parents.

16. Incidence
• Nationally
– Deafness and hard of Hearing is a low
incidence disability for children affecting about
0.14% of all students
• Locally
– 38% (60) students

17. Diseases or Illnesses
• Auditory nerve damage
– Measles may result in auditory nerve damage
– Meningitis may damage the auditory nerve or the
cochlea
• Mumps may result in profound sensorineural
hearing loss(90 Decibel|dB or more), unilateral
(one ear) or bilateral (both ears).
• Adenoids that do not disappear by adolescence
may continue to grow and may obstruct the
Eustachian tube, causing conductive hearing
impairment and nasal infections that can spread to
the middle ear.

18. Diseases or Illnesses
• Chlamydia may cause hearing loss in
newborns to whom the disease has been
passed at birth.
• Premature birth results in sensorineural
hearing loss approximately 5% of the time.
• Syphilis is commonly transmitted from
pregnant women to their fetuses, and
about a third of the infected children will
eventually become deaf.

19. Behavioral Instances
• Fetal alcohol syndrome is reported to
cause hearing loss in up to 64% of infants
born to alcoholic mothers, from the
ototoxic effect on the developing fetus plus
malnutrition during pregnancy from the
excess alcohol intake.
• AIDS and AIDS-related complex|ARC
patients frequently experience auditory
system anomalies.

20. Behavioral Issues – cont’d
• Medications
– Diuretics, aspirin, pain killers
• Physical trauma
– damage either to the ear itself or to the brain
centers
– head injury

21. Quantification of Hearing Loss
• Mild:
– for adults: between 25 and 40 dB
– for children: between 20 and 40 dB
• Moderate: between 41 and 55 dB
• Moderately severe: between 56 and 70 dB
• Severe: between 71 and 90 dB
• Profound: 90 dB or greater

22. Age of Onset of Deafness
• The age at which the hearing impairment
develops is crucial to spoken language
acquisition. Post-lingual hearing
impairments are far more common than
pre-lingual impairments.
• If the hearing loss occurs at a young age,
interference with the acquisition of spoken
language and social skills may occur.

23. Participant Input
• Share one resource that you think is great
for teachers learning about deafness.

24. Concluding Remarks
• Question for further conversation:
– If other students with disabilities are also deaf,
should students who are ONLY separated be
separated?

25. Resources
• D-PAN
– Waiting for the World to Change
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKnF9CCYQPQ
• Teaching With Technology
– Pay Attention
• http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewk
ey=40c570a322f1b0b65909

26. References
• Mendiola, M. (2008)
– http://www.slideshare.net/mendiolamae/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-presentation
• Manglona, F. (2008)